Tag: tribes

Native IssuesLeave a comment

Is Climate Change Always the Reason for Wildfires?

David G. Lewis, PhD

Recently, in the media the subject of climate change has again become popular. In NPR interviews scientists have discussed  how reporters need to not just be reporting the wildfire season, or the effects of massive environmental disasters, without linking them to Climate Change. Rarely is climate change mentioned now, perhaps an effect of the Trump administrations dampening down climate change research, ignoring climate change as a serious problem to our society and nation, and  removing or deleting climate change research from federal websites. With little or nothing online on federal websites, no actions by the federal government, the media has … Continue reading Is Climate Change Always the Reason for Wildfires?

columbia river, eastern oregon, General History, Rogue Valley, Umpqua Valley, Washington Territory, Willamette Valley4 Comments

Joe Lane 1849 : Report of the Tribes and Bands of the Oregon Territory

David G. Lewis, PhD

General Joe Lane was an early politician and war hero for Oregon. He served as the Indian Superintendent for Oregon as well as Governor of the territory in 1848 and 1849, and in 1850 participated in battles and conflicts in southern Oregon, famously making peace with the Rogue River Confederacy in the first agreement of Southern Oregon, a treaty of peace.  In 1853, he leads another battle with the Rogue River tribes, at Evans Creek and forms another peace agreement with the confederacy at Table Rock. Previously, Lane had been engaged as an officer in the U.S. Army during the … Continue reading Joe Lane 1849 : Report of the Tribes and Bands of the Oregon Territory

Native Issues, treaties, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Are Tribes Ready for Termination, Again?

David G. Lewis, PhD

Are Tribes Ready for Termination, Again? In the past few weeks a number of federal administration officials have made statements which suggest that a concerted effort is underway to again terminate tribes in the United States. In April, the Health and Human Services department suggested that tribes should not have an exemption under Medicare and not have a requirement that their members have a job to receive the health care. If this decision is allowed to stand this could begin to unravel Tribal sovereignty in the United States. The administration assertion that tribes are a race, not sovereign tribal people … Continue reading Are Tribes Ready for Termination, Again?

coos bay, General History, Grand Ronde Reservation, Oregon Coast, Oregon indians, Rogue Valley, Siletz Reservation, treaties, Umpqua Valley3 Comments

The Gateway on the Central Oregon Coast, Fort Umpqua and the Umpqua Sub Indian Agency

David G. Lewis, PhD

The southern and central Coast of Oregon is a relatively unknown area in Native American history. As the area is not well researched it is generally assumed to have been vacated during the Indian removals of 1856. However, federal records show us that this is not the case at all. That there were tribes and bands living on the central coast, even below the southern border of the Coast Reservation, and there was quite a lot of traffic of Native groups moving up and down the coast as they were either forced into the reservation and its encampments, or tried … Continue reading The Gateway on the Central Oregon Coast, Fort Umpqua and the Umpqua Sub Indian Agency

education, Native Issues, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Colonizing the Blood

David G. Lewis, PhD

Federal policies beginning in the 19th century have sought to take all lands and resources from native nations. Many tribes lost most of their land and resources through wars and/or treaties which forced the movement of their tribe to a federal Indian reservation. Over several decades many reservations were gradually shrunk by federal actions, either by opening parcels for white settlement, terminating whole reservations, or imposing allotment policies which allotted individual tribal members  and sold off the rest of the unallotted lands, considered surplus, to white settlers or American companies like the logging industry (Dawes Act 1887). In 20 years, … Continue reading Colonizing the Blood